Michael - CEO TAA NSW and Interim CEO Accommodation Association
The staffing challenges that the hotel and hospitality industry is facing is quite huge. We were devastated due to the pandemic, particularly due to the closures that many hotels had to go through.
Sara - Hotel Manager, Taronga Conservation Society Australia
Staffing has been a real struggle. We've actually had to close two days a week at times throughout the year.
Michael
We were keen to run the Hotel and Hospitality Week because our industry is very much in need of people and the year 11 and year 12’s, particularly the year 12’s that are leaving, are ready and able to actually start within our industry.
Chris - Senior Project Officer, Regional Industry Education Partnerships
So this week is the first annual Hotel and Hospitality Open Week, which is a joint initiative between the RIEP program and the hotel and hospitality sector. The RIEP team has worked locally with schools in Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle to get up to 300 high school students to hotel and hospitality venues in their local area so that they can take part in tours, interactive activities and also find out about the many job opportunities that are available to them coming into the summer holidays.
Female student 1
It was really awesome to see the behind the scenes of the hospitality industry.
Female student 2
I thought the tour was really incredible. It was cool to see the amount of different like jobs and like things that go into making it run smoothly.
Male student
I'm definitely planning to get a job this summer or during the holidays, so it should be great. Yeah, I would love to work anywhere for hospitality just because of this experience I had.
Chris
Students can also apply for the jobs that are available to them using a new rapid application system which allows them to apply for the jobs in under 5 minutes without even needing a CV.
And students will also hear from TAFE New South Wales about the many training opportunities that are available to them in hospitality through the summer skills program.
So the great thing about the RIEP program is that we have the connections with careers, advisors and teachers within schools.
So for the Hotel and Hospitality open week, we were able to connect the right students with the right opportunities within the industry.
Michael
We've found working with the RIEP program on this initiative extremely beneficial.
The RIEP officers have been able to bring us together, hotels and schools and bring the students in and for us to be able to promote to them, but also to have a fistful of jobs ready to go because we're in need and that will get them up and away and certainly working in our industry.
Contact
Get in touch with the RIEP program today. Contact riep@det.nsw.edu.au.